5. Written on stone
1664 Words
Green River Pack, Oregon
It was around noon when Lena heard the distant sound of wolves howling. They’re back. Alpha Benjamin, Jake, Anders, Carl and some other trained warrior wolves had left for the Paper Birch Clearing within an hour of Cody’s vision. They were now returning after having been away all night and morning. Lena and her brothers were waiting in the common room of the main house. She looked at Lucas who also seemed to have heard the distant howls.
“Do you think they found something?”
Lucas' voice echoed inside her head. Lena looked at Cody who sat beside her half asleep.
“Let’s just hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”
Soon the door opened and in stepped Ben, Jake, and Anders. Lena didn’t even have to ask, their expressions said it all; Cody’s dream had been more than just a dream.
Cody woke up from his slumber and sat up. Silence fell upon the room as no one seemed to know what to say. Ben was the first to speak, but only after several seconds had passed.
“We… found the clearing…” Ben let out a great sigh. “Unfortunately, it’s true. What young Cody saw in his dream is what we found at the clearing.”
Once again, silence ensued. Suddenly, Jess barged through the door.
“What happened? Did you find something.”
She gave the room a quick scan.
“I’m guessing yes…”
Jake nodded and Jess sat down with a defeated look on her face. A sniffing sound broke the silence, and Lena turned to see Cody with tears in his eyes. His brown eyes found hers and his voice was thin when he spoke.
“I’m sorry…”
Lena almost crushed her brother with a hug.
“This is not your fault, Teddy! If anything, you made sure that those people can be sent to the Moon Goddess in a proper way.”
Lena felt Cody’s tears start to soak her shirt, but she didn’t care. Soon she heard Anders speak.
“Lena is right, Cody. You are not to blame for this. However, I think it’s time you and I started to train like I’ve trained with your sister. Though your dreams and visions are very different than hers, and though you’re still very young, I think it would be best to work on your unconscious and its abilities as well. In fact, I think we should start right now.”
Anders gave Cody a loving smile and Cody nodded in return. He stood up and approached Anders. Just as they had left the room, Lena stood up as well.
“I’ll go with them…”
When she took a step, she felt a hand grab her arm. She turned to see Jake look at her.
“Not yet.”
Lena was confused.
“There’s more?”
Jake slowly nodded and let go of her arm. However, Ben was the one who spoke.
“We didn’t want to say this in front of Cody. He’s still very young and he’s going through more than he should. But yes, there’s more.”
Lena took a step back and sat down once again. Both Jake and Ben sat down as well.
“Well, what is it?”
Lena looked at Lucas who had asked the question. He looked upset and impatient, yet she could also sense something in him, that she hadn’t sensed since the day Marcello had attacked the Lake Maroon Pack; fear.
“Two things. One; though the clearing was no less than a m******e, it was still a lighter display than it could’ve been. At least half the wolves of the pack weren’t there. In fact…”
Ben choked up a bit before he continued.
“... the dead were almost entirely consisting of... weaker wolves.”
After some seconds of silence, Jess spoke.
“Weaker? You mean …?”
Ben nodded.
“Yes. Old people, non warrior wolves... “ he stopped for a second “... children.”
Lena sat back in her chair as tears started to blur her vision. She closed her eyes and pushed the pain back before she opened her mouth.
“And the second thing?”
She looked at Jake who slowly reached for something in his pocket. Never had Lena wished so much to see a heart shaped, pink brooch. She would wear that brooch for every second of every day until she died. Sadly, it wasn’t a brooch. Jake had found his phone and was looking through it before he handed it to her. What she saw was a picture of a great stone, and on the stone, written in blood…
.
Hear us, men, with the pride of an Alpha.
We shall kill the women, who carry your children.
We shall slay the children that carry your blood.
We shall curse the souls that you were given.
Give us the heirs of Jean Lunaire and we will leave you be.
Defy us and we will unleash upon you the devil.
We are anger, we are terror, we are the Red Cross Crows.
Her voice faltered as she spoke the last sentence. Both Lucas and Jess looked at her with wide eyes and pale faces. Ben and Jake both looked at the floor. Jess was the first one to speak after what seemed like a century.
“Did anyone else see this?”
Ben sighed.
“Yes. We had asked for assistance before we had seen the scene. All Alpha’s responded and came to the clearing. We weren’t the first ones either, and it wasn’t exactly subtle.”
Jake sat up straighter and continued.
“The good news is that no one knows about your whereabouts yet…”
“Yet…”
Lucas was staring at Jake’s phone when he interrupted. He turned and gave Jake a dark, knowing look.
“... but they soon will.”
Jake slowly deflated again as he responded.
“Yes, probably.”
Lucas gave the phone to Jake and stood up.
“Then what’s the point… “
It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. Lena watched as all hope left her brother. However, before she could even respond, Jess stood up.
“Now you listen to me, you little s**t! I have not trained with you for a damn year just to see you get defeated by some group of red chickens, you hear me?! This group has tried and failed before, and fail they will again. Now tell me, did the people from White Falls Pack die for nothing or are you gonna fight for their legacy?!”
Lucas looked dumbstruck as he nodded. Jess nodded as well.
“Good… now, how do we do this, huh?”
Jess looked at Ben and Jake now. Ben took in a deep breath.
“Well, we would need to gather all wolves on the continent to fight, and that’s not a simple task. Firstly, we are the ones who are hiding the last Lunaires. Our word would be seen as biased. Secondly, even if other Alphas could look past that, we’re still a small pack. If just one or two packs decide to attack, they’d probably succeed. No, we need allies before we act.”
Jess nodded. Adrenaline was obviously fueling her, but Lena could tell that she was falling down from her high.
“Okay, allies. Great. What about the other Alphas in Oregon? Can they be our allies?”
Ben gave a small shrug.
“I trust Alpha Nick, but his pack is even smaller than ours. I trusted Alpha Max, but given we just found half his pack dead…”
Jess frowned as she sat down.
“Right… well there has to be a way?”
Lena took in a deep breath before she responded.
“Logan.”
Everyone turned to look at her. Jess, Ben and Jake all looked stunned but not especially surprised. They know it too. They know it’s our only hope. Lucas, however, looked more confused than he had ever done before.
“Logan? Logan Black? Are you kidding me?! Why would he help us? He’ll probably be the first one to attack us?!”
Lucas looked at the others for some support, but he didn’t receive any. He then turned to look at Lena once more. Lena slowly closed her eyes.
“He won’t, Luke. He can’t. If I die, then a part of him dies as well.”
At first Luke looked just as confused as before, but soon he realized what she had meant by her words.
“You mean… you’re…”
“Yes. He’s my mate. My fated mate.”
Lucas almost fell back into his chair as he just stared at Lena, mouth agape.
“You’re right.”
Lena turned to look at Ben.
“It’s our best chance. But we need to act fast, and we need to act discreetly.”
Lena slowly nodded as she kept eye contact with Ben.
“Then it’s a good thing that Anders has been teaching me to master my subconscious travel.”
Jake looked at her with a serious expression.
“When can you do it?”
Lena mentally shook away the fear that started to form in her stomach.
“Tonight. I’ll seek out Logan Black in his dreams tonight."
- Writer
